Blessed    
By Tammy Laws Lawson

     A friend and I were standing in line at the grocery store the other day, and I was telling her how lazy my children were.  I had come in from work that morning, and like most times, my house was wrecked.
    
"I believe children nowadays are just out for what they can get.  I bend over backwards for them, and they can't even help keep our house clean.  It wouldn't bother me so, but it's the woman who looks bad if the house is a mess."
    
"Do you know how blessed you are?" a woman behind us asked.  "I would love to go home and find my house a mess.  I wouldn't mind my carpet being ruined or the dishes left everywhere.  I wouldn't mind the dirty clothes being piled high or the many socks to match.  I wouldn't even mind anyone talking about my dirty home.  Matter of fact, I would love it.  I would dearly love to kick my way through the house just to get to my kids and be able to hug them, kiss them and tell them how much I love them.  You see, my two children were killed in an auto accident and now it's just my husband and me.  My house stays clean, my clothes stay put up, the dishes are done.  There are no fingerprints on my walls, no mysterious spots on my carpets.  There are no sounds of arguing, no slamming doors, no laughter, no 'I love you Mom.'  So you see, you are very blessed.  What I would give to be going through what you are right now.  How I would love to be able to hold my kids, wipe away their tears, share their dreams.  Just to watch them play.  If I had my children, I wouldn't care how my house looked.  I would be happy just to have them."
    
Now if you come into my house and see a big old mess, you can think bad thoughts if you want, but I feel greatly blessed.

What a sad story, but a good reality check for everyone.  It actually brings to mind an incident after Tara's second surgery when she had some excessive swelling in her brain.  We were terrified, as she was not able to find any of her words for a few days.  Campbell was running around to different pharmacies, trying to find one that carried the ordered dose of one of the prescriptions.  In line at the cashier, a woman was loudly berating her young son for not packing groceries in the cart correctly (no, I'm not kidding!).  Campbell almost went ballistic, desperately wanting to tell her to get a grip on what was important.  He was almost at the breaking point, but decided to keep his mouth shut, so as not to land in jail!

After the experience of MMD, I think we all look at things differently.  I know we feel blessed!  Thanks for sharing this story Michelle, and thanks to everyone here for being part of our family!

Big hugs,
Jill